


Mischief Managed

by krabapple



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-22
Updated: 2011-12-22
Packaged: 2017-10-27 21:01:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/300006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/krabapple/pseuds/krabapple
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone deserves a little happiness, even Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mischief Managed

**Author's Note:**

> Alternate Universe (AU) set during Harry Potter's third year at Hogwarts.
> 
> Some lines and passages, most notably Lupin's boggart lesson, have been taken directly from _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_.

"I can't believe he hired him, that daft, old, half-mad, candy eating, Merlin-fucking, son-of-a-bitch!"

Lily cast a glance out the kitchen window, to see that Harry was currently stomach down on the grass in the garden, his Transfiguration homework completely forgotten in favor of his sketchpad and some charcoal. She closed and locked the window before any more of Sirius' ranting could possibly be heard by her thirteen-year-old son.

She then gave Sirius a look that reminded him sharply that this was the woman who had taught Ginny Weasley the Bat Boogey hex. He subsided for a minute, watching her put on the kettle.

When she was done with kettle, Lily turned around, back to the counter and said, "We trust Dumbledore to know what he's doing."

Sirius looked at James and said, "You can't possibly think this is a good idea?"

James' eyes were serious behind his glasses, but he shrugged. "I'm not entirely comfortable with the idea, no." Before Sirius could even draw breath to start again he added, "But I do agree with Lily about trusting Dumbledore. I'm sure he has his reasons."

"Such as?"

"Perhaps he thinks Remus will be able to stick it out in the post for more than a year," Lily suggested, fetching mugs and teabags from the cabinet.

"Or maybe he wants to try to lure Remus out as a traitor; having him right under Dumbledore's own nose might not necessarily be a bad thing," James said.

"No one ever proved Remus was the traitor." Lily thumped the kettle back down on the stove with a little more force than necessary.

"No one ever proved he wasn't," Sirius pointed out.

"You would have been the one to know, Padfoot," James reminded him gently.

Sirius grimaced, his mouth drawing into a tight line, but he didn't say anything more.

There was silence for a minute, and Lily handed each man a mug of tea, then sat down at the table herself.

"I still don't like it," Sirius said.

"He's thirteen, Sirius. He's at Hogwarts, and there's no safer place than that," said James.

"Except for last year when Voldemort's damn teenage diary tried to kill him and Ginny. Or the year before that with Quirrell and the Philosopher's Stone business."

"He's thirteen," Lily repeated. "We can't watch him every second. Do you remember what you were like at thirteen?"

The truth was, Sirius did remember, and that's what scared him most of all.

"Voldemort is trying to rise again," he said instead of answering Lily's question.

"We know," Lily said, and James reached for her hand across the table. Their fingers entwined, and Lily squeezed a bit. "But we can't protect Harry if we're not alive to do it, either."

"Besides," James added, "we beat Voldemort once before; we can do it again."

"You mean Lily did, and she can again," Sirius repeated the old joke between them. It had been Lily's spell, Lily's magic that had protected Harry, herself, even James that night in Godric's Hollow. They had come out of it battered, bloody and broken, but alive; Lily herself had not woken for three months after the attack, but when she had, it was to the news that Harry had survived Avada Kadavra. Even twelve years later, no one knew which member of the Order had betrayed the Potters before the Fidelius Charm could be cast.

But everyone had their suspicions.

James smiled. "True enough. Dumbledore will keep an eye on Harry, as he always does. And look on the bright side: Moony always was brilliant at Defence."

Sirius stubbornly shook his head. "That's not enough," he said. "One of us should be at Hogwarts, too."

"What are you going to do, Sirius? Ask for a job at Hogwarts so you can be there?" James asked.

"You could be Filch's assistant," Lily teased. "I'm sure he'd find plenty of work for you, the hated Sirius Black." She and James laughed.

"Well, now, I don't know about that," Sirius said. "But there's got to be something . . ."

At that point, Harry burst through the kitchen door, grey smudges on his glasses where he'd been constantly pushing them up, and asked his mother what they were having for lunch.

Sirius subsided, and settled for a nice luncheon and then an afternoon playing chess with his godson.

***

However, not even Lily Potter's famous turkey sandwiches were enough to stop Sirius Black from the self-appointed task of keeping his only family safe, and not long after, Sirius found himself standing in the middle of Dumbledore's office, demanding a job. A little to his surprise (but not much), Dumbledore gave him one gladly, and even told Sirius he was doing the Headmaster a favor by taking the position; it had come open late, and Dumbledore wasn't quite sure how he would fill it. Professor Sinistra's sister was ailing, and the Professor had asked at rather the last minute to take a year long sabbatical. Sirius didn't entirely believe the story, but he was relieved enough to get his way that he didn't question things too much.

He was to be Professor Sirius Black, temporary instructor of Astronomy.

Sirius had never doubted Dumbledore had a wicked, and rather dark, sense of humor.

James had laughed so hard and for so long when he heard the news that he doubled over, and didn't stop until Lily landed a firm smack on the back of his head. Lily herself seemed remarkably unsurprised, and when Sirius received an anonymous delivery from Flourish and Botts with half a dozen astronomy texts inside, there was little doubt in his mind who had sent them. Harry's excitement, however, could hardly be contained, and it was his opinion that Sirius valued the most.

So on September 1, 1993, Sirius Black found himself levitating a trunk and the rest of his luggage down the narrow corridor of the Hogwarts Express, trying very hard not to hit Hermione Granger on the back of the head with a particularly sharp-edged suitcase. Harry, Hermione, and Ron were walking ahead of him, alternately levitating and dragging their own luggage, and talking excitedly about this year's Quidditch chances and their summer holidays. As they had been rather late boarding the train, every compartment they passed was already full, and when they reached the last one, they found it only had one passenger inside.

"C'mon, I'm sure he won't mind," Hermione said, already easing her luggage through the door she'd opened. Harry and Ron followed her, with Sirius bringing up the rear. The man seemed to be sleeping, so they stowed their belongings away carefully before taking seats, Ron next to the sleeping man, with Harry, Hermione and Sirius on the other side of the compartment.

Sirius hadn't been looking at their traveling companion too closely, except to notice his state of unconsciousness, and also the state of his dress. The man was fairly tall, but not as tall as Sirius; his cloak was pulled up all the way to just under his eyes, so Sirius couldn't get a good look at his face, but the cloak was either second-hand or very much worn by the original owner. Here and there patches showed through even in the dim light of the train compartment, and the man's shoes were of an old style, and very clearly scuffed and well-used. Even still, Sirius felt a slight thrill of recognition slide through him as he sat down next to Harry, as if static electricity was raising the hair on the back of his arms.

"Wonder who he is," Ron remarked.

"Professor R.J. Lupin," Hermione primly replied. Sirius felt the electricity jolt into an actual shock; he knew without even looking again that Hermione was right.

"How'd she know that?" Ron asked Harry. "She knows everything!"

Hermione pointed. "It's on his bag, Ron," she said, and everyone in the compartment looked up at the same time to see a battered looking brown satchel with a monogram of "R.J. Lupin" on the stainless steel clasp.

"Oh," Ron said, having the grace to look sheepish.

Harry seemed to be taking in the stranger with a good deal of consideration. Finally he said, "Seems like he might be a rather dodgy character. What do you suppose he's teaching?"

"Defence Against the Dark Arts, of course," Hermione answered before Sirius had the chance to. "It's the only open position at the school, aside from the one Sirius filled."

"Oh," Harry said, and he and Ron exchanged a look that made Sirius hide a grin behind his hand.

The compartment quickly lapsed into silence as Hermione dug out her Charms text and Harry and Ron set up a game of chess. Sirius, too, brought out one of the astronomy texts Lily had sent him, but his eyes kept roaming over the top of the book to take in Remus.

How he hadn't known immediately who their fellow passenger was, Sirius didn't know. He supposed time, age and distance had been mitigating factors, but Remus' body language remained the same; the way he slouched against the window with his cheek pressed to the glass was exactly the same as it had been every time they had ridden the Hogwarts Express together and Remus had fallen asleep, including the time fifth year when Sirius, Peter, and James had found the position too enticing and slipped a dozen ice mice down the back of Remus' collar. Or the way Remus' cloak was pulled up to his eyes – he had always slept with the blankets covering his nose, from the time of their Hogwarts days until . . . well, _until_. His hair was still the same brown, partly glowing a bit golden in the light of the compartment, and there was a liberal amount of silver threaded through now, though Remus was no more than thirty-three. That was another small symptom of the lycanthropy, Sirius knew, and Remus had been growing just a couple of silver hairs at his temples the last time Sirius had seen him. Remus might actually have possessed the same cloak as the last time Sirius had seen him, and that thought made Sirius turn away, his eyes sliding back down to his book with something like guilt and shame.

The train ride wore on, and Remus did not wake. Sirius left the compartment early, just a little before the train reached Hogsmeade, on school business as he said to the three children, but really so he wouldn't have to face Remus' eyes as he woke up. Sirius wasn't sure if he would feel sadness or anger upon seeing Remus' unfocused brown eyes, and he didn't want to find out, not this soon.

***

Having successfully avoided Remus Lupin at the Feast, on the way to Gryffindor tower to settle Harry in, and on the way to his own quarters, and upon having a completed lesson plans for all of his classes for the entire week, Sirius Black walked into his first period class on the first day of school, feeling rather confident.

He walked up to his desk, turned around to gaze at his students, and promptly panicked.

With twenty pairs of eyes looking at him, twenty students gazing at him with nothing short of rapturous attention, parchment out and quills at the ready, listening intently to any bit of knowledge and wisdom he might impart to them, all Sirius could think was: _**Holy Shit**_.

He cleared his throat, and out came the first thing he could think of to say. "Er . . . anyone here know where the Dog Star is?"

***

Three days later, Sirius was in the staff room, pouring himself a rather large cup of coffee and drinking it black. He had the upcoming period off, and he was going to need it to recover from the group he'd had the period previously: seventh year N.E.W.T. level Ravenclaws. Four days of teaching and all Sirius could think was how thankful he was for first-years. Them, he understood.

Sirius turned around from the coffee pot to see McGonagall, smiling as if she were the cat who swallowed the canary. He grimaced, and Minerva laughed.

"I'm sorry to see you suffering, dear boy," she said, "except that I also feel that sometimes we have earned our lot in life due to the repercussions of our past behavior."

"I never thought you were one for revenge, Professor."

"Sirius Black, this is not about _revenge_. This is about _justice_."

Sirius had to chuckle at McGonagall's smile. "I hope I never tortured you quite like this, Minerva."

She laughed. "I do say you found other ways to do just that, Mr. Black." She paused, and continued in a softer, more serious tone. "Show them what's what, Sirius, and they'll settle down. And remember, even those seventh years are no match for you; you were one of the brightest pupils I ever had. You shouldn't have any problem with them."

A little to his surprise, Sirius felt a bit touched. "Thank you, Professor. I'll take that as a compliment."

Minerva smiled, and picked up her robes so she could attend to her next period class. She put them on briskly and then said, "Oh, that was a compliment, but it was also the bane of my existence. Only someone as particularly bright as you could have caused such creative and spectacular trouble. There were days I wished you were quite a bit more stupid, I have to admit."

Sirius smiled and almost said _But it was Moony who came up with all the really creative mischief_ , before he stopped himself. Instead he said, "Thanks for the advice," just as the warning chimes rang.

McGonagall left the room just as Severus Snape swooped into it. Sirius scowled and poured himself more coffee. He had had almost as little to do with Snape since his arrival as he had with Remus; to be sure, he still hated the bastard, and hated even more how he treated Harry in class, but he also knew that it was Snape who had watched out for the boy on more than one occasion, and if that didn't exactly earn Snape Sirius' friendship, or even civility, it at least earned Snape his silence. Besides, Sirius knew he was here as much by the good grace of Albus Dumbledore as he was by anything else, and if he wanted to remain, it was best for all concerned if he didn't stir up trouble with other faculty members.

Thankfully, Snape was just as content to leave Sirius alone as Sirius was have nothing to do with him, and the two sat in a rather stony silence for several minutes, Snape marking papers and Sirius reading The Daily Prophet.

At about ten minutes into the period, there was a commotion outside the door. To Sirius' surprise, the door opened and he heard Remus' voice say, "Inside, please." Sirius watched as Remus' class -- third year Gryffindors and Slytherins, by the look of it -- filed in after their professor. Harry smiled at Sirius upon seeing him; Sirius smiled back discreetly. He and Harry had agreed that Sirius was not to follow Harry around or sit in on any of his classes or otherwise disturb his daily routine in any kind of way. In other words, Harry had made it quite clear he did not want to be doted on. Sirius, for the sake of peace, did the best he could to follow directions.

As Lupin went to close the door, Snape said "Leave it open, Lupin. I'd rather not witness this," and got to his feet, stalking toward the door, his black robes billowing out behind him. At the doorway, he turned on his heel and said, loudly enough for the entire room to hear, "Possibly no one's warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. Not unless Miss Granger is there to whisper instructions in his ear."

Sirius watched as Neville flushed a deep scarlet, and as Harry's glare practically burned a hole into Snape's robes. Sirius himself bit his lip, hard enough to draw blood, in an attempt not to interfere. Snape's behavior was inexcusable and cruel, but it was Remus' class, and Sirius knew Hogwarts well enough to know that it was not acceptable for him to interfere, no matter how much he wanted to. Indeed, Alice and Frank Longbottom had been members of the Order, and friends of Sirius and the Potters, before the Death Eaters had gotten to them. The Longbottoms deserved much more than their fate had allowed them, and so did Neville; the thought of Snape sneering at the boy made Sirius' blood boil. At least Harry had the good sense to keep quiet; Sirius saw how badly he wanted to defend his friend, but he would not disrespect either teacher, even as much as he hated Snape in private.

Remus, however, merely raised his eyebrows and smiled slightly. "I was hoping Neville would assist me with the first stage of the operation," he said, "and I am sure he will perform it admirably."

Sirius couldn't stop his eyebrows from going up at that, nor at the way the simple comment completely disarmed Snape, who merely curled his lip and stalked out of the room, slamming the door shut.

Remus turned toward Sirius, "You are welcome to stay if you like, Professor Black, but my students and I will be using the staff room for most of the period, and we wouldn't want to disturb you."

These were the first words Remus had spoken to him in twelve years. Sirius lowered his eyebrows and said, "I'd like to stay, thank you." He genuinely did, of course; he would have the perfect opportunity to look after Harry and observe Remus' behavior at the same time, and it was a chance he couldn't pass up.

Remus nodded at him, and then turned back toward his class. "Now then," he said, beckoning them toward the far end of the room, where an old wardrobe stood rocking slightly on its feet, and there was a distinct banging coming from inside every few seconds. A few of the students stepped back in alarm.

"Not to worry, everyone. There's a boggart in there. Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces. Wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboards under sinks – I've even met one that lodged itself in a grandfather clock."

Sirius closed his eyes, remembering that, indeed, Remus had met a boggart in a grandfather clock. It had been in their first flat; the clock had been left by its previous owner, and the Muggle movers Remus had hired refused to touch the thing, thinking it was haunted. It had taken a good three-quarters of an hour for Sirius to even pry the damned thing open, and it had taken Remus about half a second to dispatch the boggart. Sirius had long joked that Remus had gotten the far better end of that deal.

" _This_ one moved in yesterday afternoon," Remus was saying. "I asked the headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my third years some practice. So, the first question we must ask ourselves is, what _is_ a boggart?"

Hermione's hand shot up in the air, and several of her classmates groaned softly. "It's a shape-shifter," she said. "It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us the most."

"Couldn't have put it better myself," Remus said, and Hermione glowed. "So the boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears."

Remus looked at Neville, who had made a small sputtering sound. "This means that we have a huge advantage over the boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it, Harry?"

Sirius watched as Harry's eyebrows knit together in thought, and then saw him smile, all the while expertly ignoring the bobbing Hermione next to him. "Er – because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be?"

Sirius grinned at this assessment, doing his best to hide it behind his paper.

"Precisely," said Remus. "It's always best to have company when you're dealing with a boggart. He becomes confused. Which should he become, a headless corpse or a flesh-eating slug? I once saw a boggart make that very mistake -- tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening."

That experience, Sirius knew nothing about.

"The charm that repels a boggart is simple, yet it requires a force of mind. You see, the thing that really finishes a boggart is laughter. What you need to do is force it to assume a shape that you find amusing. We will practice the charm without wands first. After me please . . . _Riddikiulus_!"

" _Riddikiulus_ ," the class said together.

"Good," said Remus. "Very good. But that was the easy part, I'm afraid. You see, the word alone is not enough. And this is where you come in, Neville."

Sirius watched Neville's face drain of all color as the wardrobe shook again. Remus gestured with his hand, and Neville came forward, though he looked like a man sentenced to the gallows.

"Right, Neville. First things first: What is the thing that frightens you most in the world?"

Neville's lips moved, but no noise came out.

"Didn't catch that Neville, I'm sorry," Remus said. Even his smile looked kind.

Neville bowed his head a bit, then said, in barely more than a whisper, "Professor Snape."

Much of the class laughed, though Sirius noted with pride that Harry did not. In fact, Harry's hand formed into a fist for just a moment, before relaxing again. Neville smiled in apology, but Remus looked thoughtful.

"Professor Snape. Hmmmm . . . Neville, I believe you live with your grandmother?"

And a bloody old hag she is, Sirius thought, having heard the stories of how the boy was treated, as if he was never good enough, certainly not as good as Frank had been.

"Er – yes. But I don't want the boggart to turn into her, either."

"No, no, you misunderstand me." Remus smiled again. "I wonder, could you tell us what kind of clothes your grandmother usually wears?"

"Well . . . always the same hat. A tall one with a stuffed vulture on top. And a long dress . . . green, normally . . . and sometimes a fox-fur scarf."

"And a handbag?" Remus prompted.

Neville nodded. "A big red one," he said.

"Right, then. Can you picture those clothes very clearly, Neville? Can you see them in your mind's eye?"

"Yes," Neville said uncertainly.

"Good. Now, then, I'd like you all to form a line, Neville first. Everyone will take a turn facing the boggart; I want you to think of what you are most afraid of, and then think of a way to make it comical. Think hard, and be creative. When it is your turn, you will face the boggart, and it will shift into your worst fear. Raise your wand, say the charm and concentrate very hard. With good luck, we shall be able to defeat the boggart inside the wardrobe. Everyone ready?"

There was a murmur of enthusiastic affirmations as the students formed a rather neat and orderly line. When that had been completed, Remus leaned forward and whispered into Neville's ear, giving him instructions. The students seemed puzzled by this, but Sirius, who could very much guess what was coming, had to hide another large grin behind his paper.

"Neville, we're going to back away," Remus said aloud. "Let you have a clear field, all right? I'll call the next person forward. Back up, everyone, give Neville a clear shot."

"On the count of three, Neville," Remus said, pointing his own wand at the handle of the wardrobe. "One, two, three – NOW!"

A jet of sparks shot from the end of Remus' wand and hit the doorknob. The wardrobe burst open. Hook-nosed and menacing, Professor Snape stepped out, his eyes flashing at Neville.

Neville backed away, his wand up, mouthing wordlessly. Snape was bearing down upon him, reaching inside his robes.

" _R – r – riddikulus!_ " squeaked Neville.

There was a noise like a whip crack. Snape stumbled; he was wearing a long, lace-trimmed dress and a towering hat topped with a moth-eaten vulture, and he was swinging a huge crimson handbag.

There was a roar of laughter from the students, and Neville was wearing a stunned and pleased look on his face. Sirius' grin grew even wider.

Remus called the next student forward, and the next, going on down the line. Sirius was aware of the atmosphere in the room; it was comfortable, easy, but electric -- the students were clearly enjoying themselves, and Remus was, too, and Sirius could not help but wonder how in the world this was so _easy_ for Remus.

Suddenly, it was Harry's turn, and Sirius grew apprehensive, a cold knot settling in his belly. Sirius saw Remus step forward, almost ready to spring, as Harry raised his wand. Harry, though, looked fiercely determined, his eyes flashing behind his glasses.

The boggart, having turned into a huge spider for Ron, gathered itself up and started to shift. Time seemed to move slowly for Sirius, and he saw the boggart change, turn into a limp arm, a broken leg, a flash of red hair and the scattered pieces of crushed glasses so like Harry's.

Before the scene had even really formed, Sirius heard Remus shout, "Here!" and hurry forward. Suddenly, a silvery-white orb was hanging in the air in front of Remus -- the moon, Sirius knew -- and Remus said, " _Riddikulus!_ " causing the moon to burst into a thousand pieces before the class, tiny wisps of smoke, before it disappeared entirely.

The class burst into applause, and even Sirius felt a "That was _brilliant_ , Moony!" well up before he clamped it tightly down. Harry, however, was looking stunned and disappointed, and Sirius knew his pride had been hurt that Remus had not let him use the charm on the boggart. Sirius also knew from the look on Harry's face that he must not have seen what the boggart had turned into for him, or had not seen enough of it to comprehend it and frankly, Sirius was glad for Remus' intervention.

Sirius had been afraid that Voldemort would materialize as Harry's boggart, but the truth was that much more horrible. There was no reason for Harry to know that his worst fear was the death of his parents. Sirius felt a shiver go down his spine as he heard Remus, somewhat distantly now, award various points, mostly to Gryffindor, and assign homework.

The class left the staff room talking excitedly, Remus following. Before Remus left, Sirius managed to inadvertently catch Remus' eyes, and he was taken aback by the sadness he saw there.

Remus nodded at Sirius once, and exited the room, leaving Sirius with much more to mull over than his errant and overenthusiastic students.

***

It was the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year, and Sirius was feeling slightly guilty as he pushed his way into the Hog's Head. Harry had been denied permission to come to Hogsmeade, on the grounds that it was too dangerous for him to leave the castle, even under the eye of Sirius and some of the rest of the staff. James, Lily and Dumbledore had all presented a united front on the matter, and though Sirius agreed with them, he also understood Harry's disappointment.

So Sirius had made a trip down to Hogsmeade himself, making stops at Zonkos and Honeydukes for Harry, not that he needed to have bothered, he had thought upon watching Ron and Hermione carefully budgeting their collective money and making purchases for Harry along with treats for themselves. Sirius had sidled past them in Honeydukes, making sure to drop a few extra Galleons in Ron's pocket; if the boy was going to share what little he had with Harry, Sirius couldn't help but make sure there was more than enough to go around.

Sirius quickly found Peter, who was waving from a seat at the bar. Sirius had also made plans to have a pint with his friend, whom he saw less and less often now that he was at Hogwarts, and he was actually happy to be in the stuffy, humid air of the bar, in the company of an adult he had know for over twenty years.

"Merlin on toast, man, what have those children been doing to you?" Peter asked with a smile as Sirius chucked his coat and ordered a beer.

Sirius smiled. "It's not the children, it's the _marking_ ," he said. "I'm telling you, Pete, it never ends." He paused. "I don't look that bad, do I?"

Peter laughed as the bartender produced Sirius' pint. "Always the vain one. Some things never change."

Sirius smiled good naturedly. "How are you, Wormtail?"

Peter shrugged. "Can't complain. Job at the Ministry is good; quiet work, pay is decent. Same old, same old, really."

"C'mon, you make it sound like living death. Seeing anyone?"

"Aside from James and Lily who have me round for dinner twice a week now that both Harry and you are gone?" Peter laughed. "No, not really."

"What about . . . what's-her-name . . . Shelly, from accounting?"

Peter pulled a face. "Didn't really go anywhere. A little clingy if you ask me. Not my sort."

There was silence for a few moments as each man drank his beer. "How is Hogwarts, anyway?" Peter asked.

Sirius thought. "It's . . . good. Drafty castle, grumpy professors, Dumbledore. The same old Hogwarts. The students were a bit rough at first, but things have settled down."

"What did you do to them, Sirius? Cast sticking charms on their seats?"

"Actually . . . let's just say I placed a few dungbombs in strategic places. Once they realized exactly who they were dealing with, they also realized they couldn't out-mischief the master." Sirius grinned while Peter laughed.

"How's Harry?"

"He's excellent. Disappointed he couldn't come to Hogsmeade today, but otherwise fine. I have my suspicions that he skips Divination more than he should, but so did I, so I feel hypocritical talking to him about it."

" _Everyone_ skips Divination more than they should," Peter replied. "It's a time-honored Hogwarts tradition. And with that woman Trelawney there . . ."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Mate, you don't know half the horror of accidentally having to sit next to her at a meal, or getting cornered in the staff room."

Peter laughed and shook his head. "I can't believe you're a professor there. You, teaching."

"Well, I don't think it's my life occupation, exactly, but it's not a bad way to spend a few months," Sirius smiled.

"I still won't believe it until I see it," Peter said. "And how is . . ." Peter trailed off.

He didn't have to finish the sentence, Sirius knew exactly who Peter meant. He considered how to answer the question. _He doesn't look like he eats enough. He's a bloody brilliant teacher, and he doesn't even know it. I don't think he owns piece of clothing that isn't less than ten years old. I miss him every single day, and I see him all the time._ Sirius settled for, "He's . . . Remus. A little more gray hair, looks a little older, but he's still . . . him."

Sirius felt Peter looking at his profile. "Does he worry you?" Peter asked.

Sirius barked a bitter laugh. "Remus has always worried me."

"You know what I mean."

"I know what you mean. He . . . seems fine. Okay, not doing anything devious that I know of. I don't talk to him much, but . . . he gets along with most of the rest of the staff; he seems to work hard. The students love him. Harry treats me to hours and hours of lecturing on how brilliant Professor Lupin is."

"Harry likes him?"

"Harry seems to be his biggest fan."

Peter shook his head. "I don't know Sirius . . . doesn't that worry you?"

Sirius finally turned to look at Peter directly. "What do you mean?"

"I mean . . ." Peter paused. "I mean, what if he's using Harry somehow? Getting close to him . . . he could make the boy susceptible, tell him all sorts of things. You know how trusting Harry is."

"I. Yes. Harry's usually a pretty good judge of character, though," Sirius said.

"I know he is. But we all thought we were, too, remember?"

Sirius didn't reply.

"I'm just saying . . . I'd be careful about how much time Harry spends with Remus, how attached he gets. I'd hate to see Remus using Harry for his own ends," Peter finished.

Sirius nodded. "So would I, Peter. So would I."

***

With Peter's words ringing in his ears, Sirius set off to find Harry as soon as he got back to the school, and ended up discovering him in the last place Sirius wanted to find him.

Sirius heard Harry's voice drifting out of Remus' office. "Why --" Harry began, and Sirius felt his heart stop before he told himself that Remus' door was wide open, and that he certainly wouldn't be attacking the child when anyone could wander by and see.

"I've been feeling a bit off-color." Sirius recognized Remus' voice. "This potion is the only thing that helps. I am very lucky to be working alongside Professor Snape; there aren't many wizards who are up to making it."

Sirius frowned before he remembered: Wolfsbane. There was a new potion to tame a werewolf, that allowed a person with lycanthropy to keep their human mind during the time of the transformation. It was common knowledge amongst the staff that one of the conditions of Remus being on the faculty was that he take the potion; Snape must be the one brewing it for him. Not that Sirius had privately thought Remus needed to be forced to take the potion. In fact, Sirius was quite sure Remus was grateful for it.

"Professor Snape's very interested in the Dark Arts," Harry said.

"Really?" Sirius heard the slight amusement in Remus' voice, but he doubt Harry did.

"Some people reckon . . ." here Sirius heard Harry pause. "Some people reckon he'd do anything to get the Defence Against the Dark Arts job."

Sirius heard Remus swallow audibly, then say, with feeling, "Disgusting. Well, Harry, I'd better get back to work. I'll see you at the feast later."

"Right," Harry said, and Sirius could hear Harry's chair scrape against the floor. Sirius decided it was time to collect the boy himself, so he turned the corner and appeared in the doorway.

Remus was seated behind his desk, and Harry was, as Sirius predicted, standing to leave. Harry looked surprised to see Sirius, but Remus didn't. He merely looked up at Sirius and said quite easily, "I was just showing Harry here my new grindylow. He'll be studying it this week in my class."

"That's fine, Lupin. Harry, I think we should go now," Sirius said. Sirius saw something flicker briefly in Remus' eyes, and Harry looked ready to argue, his face clouding at being ordered to leave.

Harry opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Remus said gently, "Go on now, Harry. I'm sure you'd rather spend your free day with your godfather than with me."

Remus' tone, and the way the Harry's anger drained away at it, made Sirius grind his teeth. Still, he managed a decent tone of his own to say, "I'd certainly hope so. Come on, Harry. I brought you some things from Hogsmeade, and I'm sure Ron and Hermione will want to see you when they get back."

Harry walked toward the door, but turned around before he left to say, "Thank you for the tea, Professor Lupin." Remus nodded, and then Sirius was practically whisking Harry back down the hall toward Gryffindor Tower.

They were barely out of earshot of Remus' office before Harry started in. "What was that for? Professor Lupin was only being kind to me when he heard I couldn't go to Hogsmeade."

Sirius sighed. "Harry . . . it's complicated. I just don't want you spending more time with Professor Lupin than you have to in class."

As Sirius predicted, Harry bristled at this. "Why not? He's brilliant and the best DADA teacher we've ever had, loads better than anyone else!"

"I don't trust him, Harry. Please try to understand."

"But you trust Snape?" Harry practically spat the name, and Sirius became a bit alarmed at his tone. "You and he and my dad hated each other when you were at school!"

Sirius stopped walking so that Harry would have to as well, then gently took the boy's shoulders and turned Harry to face him. "I don't like Snape, that's true, Harry, but I trust him with your safety."

"And you don't trust Professor Lupin? Why not?"

"Harry . . . there are some things you don't know about Professor Lupin. I'm not saying he's a bad person, but." Sirius sighed. "I only want you to be safe. Please trust me, Harry."

Harry still looked doubtful, but he nodded slowly. "I just. What if Professor Snape is trying to poison Professor Lupin with that potion?" he blurted.

Sirius shook his head. "That's not what's happening, Harry. Professor Lupin . . . he was right. That potion is medicinal; it helps him not to be sick. Do you understand that?"

Again, Harry nodded reluctantly. Sirius blew out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Good. Let's go find Ron and Hermione, see what they brought you back from Hogsmeade."

***

By the time the next Quidditch game rolled around, Harry still hadn't quite forgiven Sirius for asking him not to spend time with Professor Lupin, but their relationship was at least approaching normal status.

Sirius grinned, thrilled to be seeing Harry playing Quidditch, even if it was in the pouring rain. James and Lily had come out to see the match; they usually used slight glamours to appear as incognito as possible, but there was never any holding James back from seeing his son play on the Gryffindor team, especially when said son was the youngest House seeker in a century.

They watched the game enthusiastically, cheering madly with Ron, Hermione, and the rest of Gryffindor. Lily suddenly pointed, and Sirius knew she had seen that Harry had spotted the snitch even before the announcers. Sure enough, Harry was climbing higher and higher into a windy and storm-swept sky, and Sirius couldn't help but feel a twinge of fear that the weather really was too dangerous in which to be playing Quidditch.

That fear seemed all too founded when, suddenly, they saw Harry start to plummet from the sky, going far too fast to possibly be in control of his broom. Sirius felt rather than saw Lily rush past him, pushing her way through the crowd to the field, James following closely. He saw Dumbledore raise his hand, guiding a clearly unconscious Harry and his broom to the ground as the crowd gave up an enormous, collective gasp. Then Sirius was pushing his way through the crowd, too, simultaneously trying to keep an eye on what was happening with Harry and look for James and Lily.

Sirius was at a dead run on the pitch when he saw the small knot of adults that meant Harry must be at the center. Sirius pushed his way into the knot, finding James and Lily, and coming to a halt next to them, in time to see Harry beginning to sit up rather groggily, and a familiar voice saying, "Here, Harry. Eat this, it will help. Really." Sirius watched Remus pull a bar of _Honeyduke's Dark Chocolate 70% Cocoa_ out of the pocket of his cloak, break off a piece, and offer it to Harry.

Lily, who had dropped to her knees beside her son, looked up at Remus briefly, then nodded. "It's okay, Harry. It will help."

Harry took the chocolate from Remus' fingers, his hand shaking as he broke off an even smaller piece of the chocolate and popped it into his mouth.

Finally Sirius blurted, "Why are you letting Remus give him chocolate? And why are you giving him chocolate in the bloody first place?" Sirius saw Harry's eyes widen, but he didn't care.

Remus looked up at Sirius gravely. "Don't you feel that?" he asked.

Sirius was about to ask what, exactly, he should be feeling, when he noticed that the air, which had already been chilly, suddenly felt cold, the kind of cold that was sharp and biting, the kind you felt in your bones. Sirius shivered, and opened his mouth to ask, again, what was happening, when he suddenly heard an echo of Remus' voice, though this time, it wasn't coming from in front of him.

 _Don't you know that I can't be with someone who doesn't trust me?_

Sirius, abruptly lost in the sorrow in Remus' voice and a well-worn image of Remus holding a suitcase in front of the door of their flat, felt a warm hand clasp him on the shoulder -- James' -- and bring him back to the Quidditch pitch.

Sirius closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. "But why . . . why would Dementors be here?" he asked.

"Because Bellatrix LeStrange has escaped from Azkaban." Dumbledore's voice was grave, his face serious, as he came to the front of the small group.

Distantly, Sirius heard Lily gasp.

"They think she's going to come . . . " James cut himself off, glancing down at his son, who was chewing on chocolate and taking in every word being said.

"Indeed," Dumbledore confirmed. "Though they should not be this far onto the grounds, and the Ministry will not be happy to hear my thoughts on the subject. Professor Lupin, I'd like to thank you for your quick and clear thinking on the matter; I'm sure it was beneficial for Harry." He looked down at Harry. "Now, Mr. Potter, if you are feeling up to walking, I rather think a trip to the infirmary is in order."

Harry nodded, and James helped his son up, wrapping an arm around Harry and letting the boy lean on him.

Sirius watched as the small family walked toward the castle, Lily and James on either side of Harry. He would let them have their time together, and visit later.

When he turned around, it was to see Remus watching him. Sirius remained silent, and passed Remus without speaking on his way back toward the stands to help the other faculty quiet the restless and concerned students.

***

Remus was quietly marking sixth year papers on counter-hexes by the soft glow of candlelight when there was a small rap at the door of his office. He looked up, ready to politely invite the visitor in, and saw Lily Potter.

Lily smiled slightly and asked, "May I come in?"

Remus put down his quill and nodded. "Of course; please have a seat." He gestured to the battered chair across from his desk.

Lily sat but didn't speak, so Remus asked, "Would you like some tea?"

"I'd adore some, thank you, Remus," she said, so Remus fussed about for a few minutes, heating the kettle and pouring hot water through a strainer of tea leaves before handing Lily a cup.

"Thank you," Lily said again. "James and Sirius are having a bit of a boys' night upstairs, so I thought I might come and visit with you for a while. There's only so much fighting over chess a girl can take." She smiled.

To his surprise, Remus smiled, too. "Is there anything I can do for you in particular, Lily? Or would you prefer I call you Mrs. Potter? I don't want to be forward."

Lily raised an eyebrow at that. "Don't want to be forward? Remus, we've known each other since we were first years; I think calling me by my first name is not an issue of etiquette."

Remus smiled. "I don't want to assume anything."

Lily sighed and put her tea down on the edge of Remus' desk. "Remus, we were friends long before I could even stand the sight of James Potter and Sirius Black. Please don't think I've forgotten that."

Remus nodded, but didn't say anything for a moment. "If you want to ask about Harry, Lily, you can. He's quite the bright student, especially in my subject; top of his class, he is -- is probably be top of the entire school, come to it, though his handwriting could use some improvement." Remus smiled.

"I didn't come here to ask after Harry, Remus, though I'm happy to hear all of that. He adores you, you know; every other word out of his mouth or in his letters is about how brilliant you are and how amazing DADA is this year."

Remus smiled proudly. "Well, I'm glad about Harry, but I can't imagine there are other members of your family who are pleased to hear my name invoked quiet so often."

Lily shook her head. "You're just as bad as he is, you know that?"

Remus didn't ask; he knew who _he_ was.

"Stubborn lot, the both of you." Lily sighed. "I hear Harry asked you to tutor him privately, help him fend off the Dementors that are encroaching on the school grounds."

Remus nodded. "I'm not surprised Harry is particularly affected by them; we all are, in our own ways, but Harry has true horrors in his past his classmates can scarcely imagine." Remus stopped. "I'd be happy to teach Harry the charm, of course, but I hear the idea has already been sacked by other parties."

"Not by all relevant parties, though." Lily picked up her tea again. "I think it's a fine idea, and James does not object; it's Sirius, of course, who takes issue, but he's not Harry's parent, and he's been outvoted many, many times when it comes to Harry's upbringing."

But Remus shook his head. "I don't want to come between any of you, and certainly not between you all and Harry." He paused. "I appreciate the support, Lily, I really do, more than you can know, but . . . well, I'm just not up to the pitched battle it will be with Sirius. Our relationship is tense enough as it is without throwing that into the mix. Besides, if Harry is really serious about learning the Patronus Charm, you or James or Sirius know more than enough to teach it to him."

"Knowing it is one thing, imparting it is quite another, Remus, and you know it. None of us are natural teachers, not like you."

"And yet, Sirius is here doing quite a decent job with Astronomy, if rumor has it correctly." Remus' eyes danced a bit in the light.

Lily herself almost laughed. "Sirius Black, a professor."

"Indeed. A calling to teach might not be what brought him here, but he's making it through rather admirably."

"Remus . . ."

"I know he's here because of me, Lily. Please don't say otherwise. I've known from the moment I heard he was on the staff." When Lily started to speak, Remus raised his hand. "Really. It's all right. I know how he feels about Harry, and I know how he feels about me."

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Do you now?"

Remus looked confused.

"I don't know if anyone, Sirius Black included, knows how he feels about you," Lily elaborated.

Remus blushed and his jaw set at the same time. He remained silent for a moment. "He and James and Peter were my friends; they accepted me; they didn't . . . treat me like a dark creature. I haven't forgotten that."

"But they did, the moment things got tough," Lily said, but Remus shook his head.

"It's complicated," he said.

Lily sighed. "I'm not going to get anywhere with you, am I?"

Remus smiled a little at that. "No, can't say that you are. It's been a long time . . . and maybe I'm too set in my ways now."

"Too set in your ways to come visit us at Christmas?"

"Lily . . ."

"You can stay over for the hols, for part of them, or just for the day. Whatever you're comfortable with, Remus. But I'd love to have you visit, and Harry would be delighted."

Remus shook his head. "I can't, Lily."

"Can't, or won't?"

"A little of both." Remus sighed. "But, even if I wanted to . . ."

"Which you don't . . ."

"Lily. Even if I wanted to, the night of the full moon is Christmas Eve."

Lily took a deep breath, but Remus put up a hand to stop her. "Even with the Wolfsbane, it's not pleasant. There's no way I'd be recovered enough for a visit."

"Your pack would be there."

Remus shook his head, and smiled a bit sadly. "My pack disbanded years ago, Lily." He took a deep breath, and forced the sadness out of his smile. "But I do appreciate the offer. I'll be fine here at Hogwarts, but I do wish you and your family a very Happy Christmas."

Lily knew a dismissal when she heard one, even a polite one, so she put her mug down and stood up. "Thank you for the talk Remus. It was lovely to see you; thank you for the tea."

"You're quite welcome, Lily," Remus said.

Lily turned in the doorway on her way out and said, "Don't be a stranger, Remus."

***

James let out a monumental groan. "I thought the days of staying up all night Christmas Eve and putting together toys was _over_ ," he said.

Lily smiled. "That's what you said after the bicycle, and the first racing broom, and the Hogwarts Express train set . . ."

"And the easel and the oil paints and the magic palette," Peter continued.

"Don't forget the enchanted sketch pad, the never-wears-down pencils, and the puzzle with the flying pieces," Sirius finished.

"Hey, that sketch pad was a tricky piece of magic," James said. "And I don't remember any of you lot helping."

Lily laughed and rolled her eyes. "As I recall, dear, darling, love of my life, _I_ was the one who finally reasoned out the correct charm for that pad," she said.

Sirius and Peter laughed when James looked up. "This from the woman who wanted to give the boy _books_ this year," he said.

"There's a perfectly wonderful new set on Defence that I think Harry would like," Lily protested.

The men all groaned.

"Oh, sod off, the lot of you," Lily grumbled good naturedly. "I don't see what's so special about charming some balls to fly through the air."

James stopped consulting his notes and looked at her with the same horrified expression also on Sirius and Peter's faces.

"Oi, Evans!" Sirius exclaimed. "This is a complete Quidditch set charmed to play an entire match, 2,748 different matches, to be exact, and only one player needs to play! It's like playing an entire match by yourself. You can play your position, and the rest takes care of itself. It's, it's . . ."

"It's a thing of beauty," James supplied.

Sirius sighed reverentially.

Lily looked around at all three of them, rolled her eyes, and sighed. "Don't even think about asking me to do the charm on the snitch."

James and Peter exchanged guilty glances. "It _is_ the most complicated charm," James said.

"Just look at the directions for it," Peter added.

Lily raised her eyebrows. "You all are grown men, Hogwarts-educated, with twenty N.E.W.T.s between you. Figure. It. Out."

"You're no fun at all," Sirius said.

Lily rolled her eyes, and collected mugs. "I'm going to go make some hot chocolate. Anyone care for some?"

Various permutations of "me" and "I do" filled the room.

"Good, because there's plenty. I had bought extra since I thought . . ." she trailed off, and glanced at Sirius. "Anyway, I thought we'd have more company, but you lot are it. We'll be trying to finish the stock until next Christmas." Lily smiled a bit, stood up, and went into the kitchen.

There was silence among the men in the living room, only the crackling of the fire audible over the slight thrumming of the bludgers James had already charmed.

Predictably, it was Sirius who spoke first. "What was that about?" He looked at Peter, but Peter shrugged.

James sighed. "Lily invited Remus to visit for Christmas. Don't wake Harry up, Sirius!" he added when he saw Sirius' face grow dark and his mouth open.

Sirius closed his mouth, and it was Peter who spoke. "Is she mad?"

James sighed again. "No, I don't think so. Not really. She . . . well, she's always felt rather badly about the way things turned out, and now that Remus is at Hogwarts . . ." James shrugged. "I think she wants to mend old wounds."

"Some wounds can't be mended," Sirius said, before he could stop himself.

Peter and James just looked at him. James glanced away first, when he saw Sirius begin to flush.

"Doesn't matter anyway. Remus wouldn't come even if he could, and he couldn't; full moon is tonight," James said.

There was silence again, as Peter fidgeted with a bludger, and James with the goal posts. Sirius looked into the fire, lost in his own thoughts. He thought briefly of being Padfoot, of running in the small patch of wood behind the Potters' house with Moony, of being breathless and of snuffling Moony's thick fur, of stopping to drink in the creek, and of Moony's big brown eyes.

Sirius was pulled out of his contemplation by Peter's voice. "I don't think it's such a good idea for any one of us to . . . get close with Remus again." Peter blushed when Sirius' gaze turned on him, but he continued. "Don't you think . . . there were all the times he was away, and he disappeared for good right before . . . and he never came back, never showed up again until this job at Hogwarts. Don't you think . . . don't you think that's strange?"

Even Sirius, who knew more of the reasons why Remus had left than anyone, nodded slowly. _Dumbledore's orders._ _I can't tell you Sirius; it's too dangerous._ _Of course I trust you, can't you trust me?_ _It won't be like this forever, just until we defeat him._ _I can't be with someone who doesn't trust me. Don't you understand that?_

"A real friend wouldn't have left. Only someone . . . ." Peter didn't have to finish.

The three friends looked at each other grimly until Lily came back with the hot chocolate and James cajoled her into charming the snitch for Harry.

***

The first Hogsmeade weekend of the new year was set for the first Saturday upon the students' return from Christmas hols, and though Harry could not leave the castle (the restrictions becoming more and more necessary with Bellatrix on the loose and Dementors guarding the grounds), he and Sirius still managed to spend a lovely Saturday afternoon playing exploding snap and doodling on various pieces of paper in Sirius' rooms.

But upon their way to return Harry to Gryffindor Tower, they met a horrible sight.

Several students were crowded around the portrait hole, making it difficult to see, but even above the din of the crowd, the crying and shouting of the various surrounding portraits could be heard. As Sirius pushed his way to the front of the crowd, keeping Harry firmly behind him, he saw that the Fat Lady was missing -- and that her own portrait was torn to shreds.

"She's hiding . . . she's hiding. Oh, oh, it was awful!" wailed one of the women in a nearby portrait.

"What happened here?" Sirius demanded.

"Bellatrix LeStrange, that's what happened here!" shouted a knight from a portrait below. The crowd gasped, including Harry.

"She was in the castle?" Sirius asked, alarmed.

"Not only was she in the castle, she was trying to get into Gryffindor Tower!" the same knight confirmed. "When the Lady wouldn't let her in, she used her bare hands, her own nails, to start scratching the canvas! As if that would get her entrance!"

Sirius' face went white, and he reached to grip Harry's arm tightly. Before he could gather his wits to ask another question, a hand was placed on his shoulder, and Sirius whirled around into the face of Albus Dumbledore.

"I have found the Fat Lady, and she confirms the good knight's story." Dumbledore turned to face the slope of the stairs, so he could see the assembled students and even the faculty that had come, such as McGonagall and Snape. "I think that Gryffindor Tower should be evacuated; Gryffindor students can spend the night in the Great Hall while the faculty searches the school grounds. I do not believe that Mrs. LeStrange is still in the castle, but we must be cautious."

He nodded to McGonagall. "As head of House, Professor McGonagall will handle the evacuation and the set up of the Great Hall." McGonagall nodded back.

"The rest of the faculty and staff, with the exception of Hagrid, who will assist the Professor, are to meet in the staff room so we can assemble a proper search party."

Sirius immediately opened his mouth to protest, that he needed to be there to watch over Harry, when Dumbledore's hand on his arm stopped him. "I'm sure Professor McGonagall can see to the care and safety of _all_ the students, Professor Black. I have every confidence in her."

Sirius bristled, but remained silent. Finally, he gave Dumbledore a curt nod.

"Come, students, professors. There is much to be done," Dumbledore said, and the faculty started to head down the stairs with him, the children to gather around McGonagall to receive instructions.

Sirius turned to Harry and saw huge green eyes set in a grim, white face. "Harry, you're to do as Professor McGonagall says, straight away and with no questions asked. Is that understood?"

Harry nodded.

"Good. I'll be along as soon as I can to look in on you, but for now, your Head of House is waiting." Sirius gave Harry a small, comforting push toward McGonagall, who caught his eye and nodded once.

Sirius watched until Harry was within an arms reach of McGonagall, then started down the stairs to meet with the other faculty.

***

It was nearly midnight before the entire grounds had been searched visually, with spells, and with word from the forest creatures. Sirius was the last of the search party to come back to the castle, determined to find Bellatrix if she was to be found. He had even turned into Padfoot, hoping to pick up her scent, but to no avail.

It was with a weary step and a grim face that Sirius came into the Great Hall, eyes flashing up to see the enchanted ceiling displaying a dark night, clouds swirling around in thick wisps around the stars.

Sirius checked on Harry first, who seemed to be sleeping soundly, sleeping bag pulled up to his chin, glasses still on his face. Sirius leaned down and gently removed Harry's glasses from the boy's nose, carefully folding them within easy reach next to Harry's bag. When he was convinced that the boy was safe and sleeping, Sirius stood up from his crouch, scanning the room for Dumbledore.

Dumbledore was on the far side of the hall, conversing softly with McGonagall. Snape, Remus and Flitwick were off to another corner, the closer corner, whispering.

Abruptly, Sirius decided Dumbledore could wait, and stalked over to where Remus was standing. When he got close enough, the conversation among the three men ceased, all of them turning to look at the newcomer.

Sirius didn't even spare a glance for Snape or Flitwick. Instead, he stepped close enough to Remus to see the green flecks in the man's eyes, the slight scar on his chin from when he had taken a tumble down the castle steps fifth year, the way the silver in his hair was creeping into his fringe.

"If I find out that you let that madwoman in the castle or if I even have good reason to suspect it, or if I even get a hint of a rumor of a dream where you and she are conspiring to put the students of the school in general, and Harry Potter in particular, in mortal danger, I will kill you dead before you even have time to _think_ about going for your wand, and I will hang your body from the Whomping Willow so that the entire wizarding world knows _exactly_ what I do to _traitors_."

And with that, Sirius turned on his heel and marched out of the Great Hall, not even willing to give a report to Dumbledore, whose eyes followed him out of the room.

***

It had been a few weeks since Bellatrix had gained entrance to the castle, and though things had been quiet, the staff doubled their patrols of the castle, especially after dark. Sirius was on his assigned patrol near the library one night when he abruptly, and surprisingly, ran into Harry Potter.

Harry, having been caught out after hours red-handed, quickly stuffed something into his pocket, and at least had the good grace to look a bit ashamed of himself.

"Harry, it's after curfew," Sirius started.

"I know," Harry said.

Sirius sighed. "It's too dangerous for you to be wandering the castle alone, no matter where you were going, especially with Bellatrix LeStrange on the loose."

Harry nodded. He had a large streak for mischief, that was sure, but he was also almost always sincerely contrite when (and if) he was caught. The blend of James and Lily, Sirius supposed.

"Harry, I'm going to take ten points from Gryffindor, and you are to serve two detentions for me next week; I have some equipment to sort through that needs to be cleaned by hand."

Harry groaned a bit, but otherwise remained silent.

"I'm also going to have to ask you to turn out your pockets."

"But Sirius . . . Professor Black . . ." Harry started to protest.

"Turn them out, Mr. Potter, and give me what is inside of them. Please don't argue."

Harry reluctantly reached into the pocket of his sweatshirt, and pulled out the contents.

Sirius was in no way prepared for what Harry handed to him.

"What is this?" Sirius asked, though he knew perfectly well what it was -- he himself had been one of the people who made it.

"Just a bad bit of parchment," Harry said, resolutely.

Sirius sighed. As he did so, red ink started to bloom on the paper. _Mr. Prongs would like to remind Mr. Padfoot that he is not a prefect, and that he should keep his nose out of other people's mischief-making._ Sirius sighed again, but wryly wondered what Mr. Prongs would say in his current incarnation about his son being out after hours with the Marauder's Map.

"Harry, you have to know that I know what this is," Sirius said, and tapped the Map with his wand, muttering, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

Harry watched with a bit of awe as the Map bloomed open under Sirius' command. When Sirius caught his gaze, he nodded. "I did think maybe it was you and dad and Peter who made it."

"So why didn't you come to me with it?"

Harry shrugged. "Would you have gone to your dad with it? Or my dad's dad?"

Sirius bit his tongue. "That's no excuse, Harry. What if this fell into the wrong hands? Did you even think that in Bellatrix's hands this is a map straight to you?"

Harry visibly deflated. "No, Sirius."

"I didn't think so." Sirius paused. "Where did you get this, anyway? Last I knew, Filch had confiscated it from us."

Harry smiled a bit. "Fred and George. They found it once while doing a detention for Filch in his office. They gave it to me, said I might have some use for it."

Sirius contemplated the Map in the hands of the Weasley twins and couldn't decide if he was amused or horrified.

"Well, I'll be keeping it for now." At Harry's expression, Sirius added, "You do understand why, don't you Harry?"

"I . . . yes. It's just that . . ."

"It's just what, Harry?"

"It's just that . . . the reason I was out in the first place . . . I saw Peter on the Map."

Sirius' brow furrowed. "Peter Pettigrew?"

Harry nodded. "I thought maybe he was here visiting you, but I didn't see him in your rooms or in your office. He was coming this way, so I thought I would meet him. But . . ."

"But what?"

"Well . . . the Map said he was coming down this hallway straight at me; we should have bumped into each other, but . . . I didn't see him. The map said he just went by, on down the hall. That's when you came."

"What do you mean you didn't see him?"

"I mean, the Map said he was there, but he wasn't. The hall was empty, except for me, until you turned round the corner."

"That's . . . impossible," Sirius said.

Harry shrugged. "Maybe the Map was lying."

"The Map never lies," Sirius replied automatically, then stopped. Peter had not been up to visit him; indeed, Sirius hadn't known Peter was in the castle at all. Would he have been visiting Remus, of all people? Or someone else? And why wouldn't Harry see him in the hall? Unless . . . and as soon as the thought occurred to him, Sirius felt as if his whole body had been dunked into a frozen river, and his breath caught in his throat.

It must have shown on his face, because Harry suddenly said, his voice full of worry, "Sirius?"

Sirius' eyes found their focus again, and fixed on Harry's face. "It's fine, Harry. Go on back to your room. We'll set up your detentions tomorrow."

Harry looked dubious, but nodded anyway. "All right, Sirius. Good night."

"Good night, Harry," Sirius said, and watched until Harry disappeared down the darkness of the hall.

He looked down to see that the Map was still open; he looked closer, and saw that Remus Lupin was still in his office.

Sirius turned around, and found the stairs.

***

Remus was sitting at his desk, hair falling into his eyes as he read. Sirius didn't even stop at the door, just barged in and asked, "Do you have a floo connection in here?"

Remus looked up, and blinked. "I'm not conspiring with anyone, if that's what you're asking. At least not at the moment." His voice was hard in a way Sirius hadn't heard in a long time.

"Was Peter here to see you?" Sirius abruptly changed topics.

Remus tilted his head. "What in Merlin has gotten into you?"

"Was Peter here to see you tonight?"

"I haven't seen Peter in over twelve years. He has not been to see me now, or ever. And I have a floo connection here in my office, but not in my quarters. It's too dangerous."

Sirius flopped down into the chair opposite Remus' desk. He tossed the Map onto Remus' desk. "Peter was here tonight."

Remus looked down and saw the Marauder's Map on his desk, and his face filled with something like awe. "Where did you get this?"

"Harry."

"Harry had the Map? How did he get it?"

Sirius waved his hand in dismissal. "Fred and George Weasley."

"Oh, Merlin, that's a terrible thought," Remus said.

Sirius watched as Remus traced a finger over the contours on the corner of the Map. "I found Harry in the hall with it tonight, after hours. He said he was out because he saw Peter on the Map."

Remus frowned. "Was Peter here to see you?"

"No. I haven't seen him since Christmas."

"Maybe he was visiting . . ."

"After hours? And there's something else." Sirius paused. "Harry said he came down to meet Peter, but never saw him."

"Never saw him?"

"Harry said that the Map said Peter was there, so close Harry should have bumped into him, but Harry never saw him. Peter's marker just kept going down the hall."

Remus' forehead furrowed into familiar lines, but he just looked at Sirius.

"Harry thought maybe the Map had lied."

"The Map never lies," Remus replied automatically.

"I know."

There was silence in the office. The fire crackled violently when a log fell to the bottom of the pile.

Finally Remus spoke slowly. "There are a lot of places a rat can go in a school."

Sirius met Remus' eyes. "There are a lot of places a rat can go in a prison."

Remus sucked in a sharp breath. "You don't think?"

"Well, is it _you_?"

Remus' face darkened, and he didn't answer.

"We all knew it wasn't just any member of the Order. It had to be someone in James and Lily's inner circle who was feeding information to Voldemort. Toward the end, not even the Order knew where Lily and James were moving, just the three of us. But Death Eaters got a lead on them every time. And that last time . . ." Sirius paused at the memory. "We were going to perform the Fidelius Charm the next day; I was to be secret keeper. You knew that. So did Peter. Voldemort struck before that could happen; someone told him where James and Lily were before they could go into hiding completely."

"And all of you thought it was me." Remus spoke softly, but there was no mistaking the edge, the hurt, in his voice.

Sirius shook his head. "You were secretive; away often. You never talked about what Dumbledore had you doing; we began to doubt that you were even working for Dumbledore anymore at all."

"You mean _you_ doubted."

This time, it was Sirius who didn't say anything.

"Besides, I'm the one who is a Dark Creature."

Sirius' head shot up, and his chin jutted out. "That had nothing to do with it."

Remus shook his head. "I. I don't even want to get into it right now."

Sirius went silent. "And now . . . Peter's wandering around the castle for no reason. Near Harry . . . ." Sirius' hand formed into a fist.

"So you suddenly think Peter's the traitor now?" Remus asked.

"Do you?" Sirius countered.

Remus met Sirius' gaze for a long while, then nodded.

"It makes sense," Remus said. "He knew everything the rest of us did; he would have had the information to give to Voldemort. He would be able to help Bellatrix escape Azkaban, and now he's wandering the castle alone, undercover. Since he helped make the Map, he'd know all the secret ways to get into the castle, too."

"He let Bellatrix in that day," Sirius surmised.

Remus nodded.

"So that they could get to Harry . . . kill Harry?"

Remus shook his head. "I don't think . . . I don't think they want to kill Harry. Not outright."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean. Think about it. If Peter had wanted to kill Harry, he's had plenty of opportunity for years."

Sirius thought. Sirius thought of all the times Peter had visited the Potters. Thought of all the times he'd been alone with Harry, all the times he'd taken Harry out -- to lunch, the cinema, the zoo, Quidditch games. Thought of everything he'd said about Remus; about not trusting him, about how he might use Harry, about how Remus had disappeared and that was proof that Remus was the traitor. The thought of it made Sirius sick.

He swallowed hard, and asked a question. "So what does he want? And why break Bellatrix out of prison?"

Remus shook his head. "I don't know," he said softly. "I don't know."

The men lapsed into silence again.

"We need to find out," Sirius said. "And we need to floo James and Lily."

Remus looked up, and Sirius saw the question in his eyes at Sirius' "we." He waited to see what Remus would do.

"Mischief managed," Remus said, and folded the Map carefully.

 

***

In the end, they decided not to confront Peter right away. Lily and James, faced with the evidence, didn't want to startle Peter into taking action, especially if they didn't know exactly what he was planning for Harry, and why.

Sirius knew this was sensible, of course. The rat had felt safe enough for long enough; rushing into a confrontation would benefit no one, least of all Harry. Dumbledore, McGonagall and other key members of the Hogwarts staff and old Order of the Phoenix members were notified so certain precautions could be taken (like not letting Harry go off with Peter alone, or even at all), and Mad-Eye Moody had been called by Dumbledore. Moody, when talked to, had looked absolutely disgusted with himself, and with everyone involved, for their complete incompetence up to this point.

All that didn't mean that Sirius didn't want to beat Peter Pettigrew into a bloody pulp almost every minute of every day, or worse, but he did his best to control himself.

Remus, on the other hand, was the very model of control. He had been drawn into the inner circle, of course, though he tended to stay on the outskirts, speaking rarely when talking with others, and then mostly only when spoken to. The only exception to this rule was Lily, but even then his interactions were small and guarded. Remus and James seemed to have some sort of mutual truce and apology, though neither stated it, but Sirius saw how Remus softened around James and Lily, how the lines of his shoulders rounded, how the flash returned to his eyes, and the lines faded around his mouth.

But around Sirius, Remus was grounded, controlled, tense. They had been thrown together to research Peter and Bellatrix's possible motives, and therefore spent hours together in the library, or Sirius' rooms, hunched over books, texts full of Dark Arts: potions, spells, charms. It was dark, harrowing reading, and Sirius went to sleep at night full of visions in his head of blood, dismemberment, and torture.

Sirius also went to sleep at night full of Remus. They didn't speak often when working together, but they also found that they had no need for speech; a slide of a book here, slight touch of fingers on an arm there, and they were able to read each other as well as they read the texts. They fell into old rhythms very quickly.

There were other rhythms to fall into, too. Sirius found himself watching Remus' fingers as they curled around a quill, long and a bit ink-stained, taking notes on parchment. Or he would notice the way the light in the library fell on Remus' hair, highlighting the brown into gold, and muting the silver. He saw the way Remus' mouth would quirk when Harry was mentioned, and the way he chewed his bottom lip in concentration when he was reading a particularly interesting passage.

When he began to dream about Remus, dream about the way Remus' tongue would taste in his mouth, if the taste would be the same as it had been before, or different, Sirius knew he was in deeper than he had anticipated. He would dream long, intricate dreams, dreams in which Remus had never left him, in which he'd never thought Remus was the spy, about what their life together would have been like. He dreamed about touching Remus' skin, his wrists, his neck, his hips, his ankles. He dreamed about tracing Remus' lips with his tongue, about licking behind Remus' ear, about wrapping his tongue around Remus' cock. He dreamed about the feel of Remus on top of him, of Remus under him, of Remus inside of him, all around him.

Sirius would wake from these dreams, his cock hard and his heart aching, and he would touch himself, still thinking of Remus, until soon, Remus was almost all he could think about.

***

Sirius was approaching Remus' classroom to speak to Remus, and he heard Remus' voice inside.

" . . . given your father a run for his money, Harry, and that's saying something," Remus was saying.

"Did you know my dad and Sirius?" Harry asked. "At school, I mean."

Sirius heard a pause that meant Remus had revealed more than he had intended, and he walked into the room. "Of course he did, Harry; we were all friends at school -- your dad, me, Professor Lupin . . ." here, Sirius paused, "and Peter."

Sirius saw a pair of heads swivel his way, one with unruly black hair, one with soft brown.

"That's brilliant!" Harry exclaimed, his face lighting up. Sirius watched the wheels in Harry's head turn for a bit, and was utterly unsurprised when Harry turned to Remus and asked, "So why didn't I know that before? How come you never came round our house?"

Remus' face remained unchanged, his voice light. "Your parents and I . . . didn't stay in touch. It's a bit complicated, Harry," he said, in a tone that broached no argument, not even from Harry.

"Oh," Harry said, clearly not understanding, but clearly also knowing that now was not the time to ask.

Sirius smiled, and tilted his head at Remus. "He's Moony, Harry."

Harry's eyes grew as round as saucers, and Sirius had to stifle a laugh as Harry turned to Remus in amazement and awe. "You're Moony?"

Sirius saw Remus' lips twitch, but his face remained serious. "Guilty as charged, I'm afraid."

"Brilliant!" Harry exclaimed. He looked on the verge of asking a million questions, his whole body nearly trembling with excitement.

Remus and Sirius were saved, quite literally, by the bell and chimes signaling the warning for next class.

"You'd best run along now, Harry," Remus said.

When Harry opened his mouth to protest, Sirius put in, "You have Potions next, Harry, and we both know you do not want to be late and meet Professor Snape's wrath."

Harry pulled a face, but nodded. He said quick good-byes to both Sirius and Remus before hastily leaving the room.

When he was gone, Remus looked to Sirius rather reproachfully. "You didn't need to tell him that."

"What? That you're the Moony he's heard featured in so many stories? It's fine."

"No, Sirius, it is not fine!" Remus exclaimed with more temper than Sirius had seen from him all year. He stalked around to the other side of his desk, effectively putting the furniture between Sirius and himself.

Sirius, not to be daunted, followed so that he and Remus were still facing each other, no desk between them. "And why not?"

"It's not fine . . . not, not when I can't be a part of his life."

"What do you mean, not a part of his life? You're already a part of his life."

"As his professor, Sirius . . . which is important to me, yes, but . . ."

"But?"

"But I don't come around to the house; he's right about that. I don't come on Christmas, or over spring hols, or on his birthday."

"James and Lily . . ."

"If I'm lucky, James and Lily will start inviting me over to Sunday dinner once a month, like some bachelor semi-uncle," Remus said. "It's _humiliating_."

For once, Sirius was stunned into silence, and Remus pulled up short, and sighed.

"I was there when the boy was born, Sirius. I changed his diapers, played with him, watched him learn to crawl, and walk, and talk. I taught him to say 'Padfoot'. It's . . . being thought of vaguely fondly, getting a Christmas card here and there, it's not what I want. It's not . . . enough."

"You really do have to have everything in your life be all or nothing, don't you?" Sirius exclaimed, frustrated.

"This from the Sirius Black, the once and future _king_ of all or nothing!"

"Damn right! I want it all, and you want nothing!" Sirius retorted angrily, breathing hard.

Remus recoiled a bit, but didn't speak right away.

Sirius tried to steady himself, and spoke again. "We're _trying_ Remus. We all are: James, Lily, me, everyone. We don't like what happened, how we doubted you, how we treated you . . . in fact, we hate it. _I_ hate it. It's the worst thing I ever did in my entire life, and it lead to the ruin of everything I cared about. But that . . . we can't mend things if you don't let us. If you're not willing to meet us halfway then, yes, you will be fondly remembered in old stories, and maybe someone will send you a card on your birthday, or at Christmas. We can't make it up to you if you don't forgive us. If you don't let us in, open up a bit, even just a tiny crack."

Remus hung his head, then shook it softly. "It's not that I don't forgive you. I do."

Sirius snorted, and Remus' head snapped up. "I _do_."

"For what happened in the past, maybe. But not for any future mistakes we might make," Sirius said.

"Forgiveness doesn't happen in the future tense, Sirius."

"Sure it does. Just not for you."

Remus shook his head again. "That's not fair."

"Of course it is. You were always like this. Always in control, always tightly guarded. Always quick to forgive, but also always quick to close yourself off even that much more after, just a little."

"Getting hurt will do that to a person," Remus said.

"Maybe." Sirius didn't say any more. Silence hung thick in the air until Sirius said, low and soft, "Do you hate us that much? Do you hate _me_ that much?"

"Of course not . . . if I hated you, everything would be so much easier than . . ."

"Than what?"

Remus shook his head, his lips clasped together tightly, as if refusing to let the words escape him. Sirius, on impulse, stepped forward and placed a kiss on those lips, chaste at first, but he refused to move them until he could get a thread on the secrets they contained behind them.

Sirius wasn't sure how long they stood like that until Remus relented a small bit, applying pressure of his own to Sirius' lips. Sirius kissed back, slowly encouraging Remus' mouth to open up under his; it did, eventually, slowly, fractions of millimeters at a time, but Sirius, for once in his life, was patient, cupping Remus' face with his hands, and he felt he had all the time in the universe to stand there and riddle out the secrets of Remus Lupin's mouth.

When they pulled apart, both needing air, Remus said, "This is dangerous."

"I know," Sirius said, and kissed him again.

***

After the incident in his classroom, Remus, to Sirius' great frustration, became even more guarded, more serious. He quietly made sure he was never alone with Sirius again, not even when they were doing research into Peter's possible activities; they worked in the library during open hours, or in the Great Hall, or on the grounds, but never in either's office, and never alone.

Sirius, however exasperated, also knew Remus well enough to know that Remus was working something out on his own, and didn't question the circumstances, or complain.

James said this display of patience was a bloody miracle, and vowed to write down the dates for possible reference in the future, though he made no comment as to exactly why he knew Sirius was being so patient. He didn't have to; Sirius knew James was handling him just as carefully as Sirius was watching Remus, watching out to make sure no one got hurt. Sirius reflected often that only James Potter could interfere in his life by _not_ doing anything.

Sirius was carting books to Remus' office one late afternoon and found Remus there packing a small case full of gauze, bandages, and medical tape, the Map open on his desk, a steaming goblet standing on the far right corner.

When Sirius stopped in the threshold, Remus merely looked up and said, "Full moon."

Sirius silently cursed himself for not knowing the date of the full moon, and put the books down on a table. "Let me come with you," he said.

Remus shook his head. "I've been doing just fine for years," he said.

Sirius sighed. "That's not the point."

"Really, Sirius. The Wolfsbane works wonders; this stuff is mostly a precaution. I'll be fine."

"Where do you Change? In your rooms?" Sirius remembered that Remus didn't have a floo connection in his rooms, because it was too dangerous, presumably in case the wolf got out of control.

Remus shook his head.

"Not here in your office?"

Remus shook his head again and sighed.

The truth hit Sirius like a ton of bricks. "Oh, no. Not there."

"It's perfectly serviceable, Sirius."

"It's a _pit_ , Remus. I can't believe you'd go back there after all of these years."

"I don't really have much of a choice, do I, Sirius?"

"No, you're _not_ going back there."

Remus sighed again. "I've been 'going back there' for months. It's not a problem."

"You have to let me come with you, then. I can change and be Padfoot; I don't have patrol duties tonight, so no one will miss me."

Sirius watched doubt flicker across Remus' face, and knew he was tempted.

Then he saw Remus' eyes flicker to the Map, and Remus' face drain of all color.

"What?" Sirius asked. When Remus didn't answer, he asked again. " _What_?"

"Peter Pettigrew and Bellatrix LeStrange." Remus pointed to the Map. There, as stark as day, were the two markers, headed across the grounds toward the Quidditch pitch, where the markers of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley hovered.

"Go straight to Dumbledore, floo Lily and James in his office," Sirius said.

"Where are you going?" Remus asked, though Sirius knew that it was a moot question.

Sirius stabbed a finger at the Map. "To the pitch."

Sirius was out of the office in an instant, Remus at his heels until they parted before the Headmaster's office.

The steaming goblet remained untouched on Remus' desk.

***

Sirius practically flew down to the Quidditch pitch, but did not get there before Peter, who was standing amongst Harry and his friends. Sirius saw no sign of Bellatrix, but knew she must be nearby. The sight of Peter, talking so amiably with Harry, made Sirius' blood boil, and he hit the pitch at almost a dead run.

"Sirius!" Harry called brightly. "Peter came to visit!"

Sirius practically skidded to a halt in front of the small tableau, and he turned to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "Harry, take your friends back up to the castle."

"But, Sirius," Harry started to protest, confused.

"Harry, do as I say, right now," Sirius snapped, his eyes never leaving Peter.

Peter, of all things, began to laugh, though Sirius did not miss the note of cruelty in it. "Really, Sirius. I'm just having a chat with Harry and his friends. I was even thinking a trip into Hogsmeade might be in order."

"Harry's not allowed to leave school grounds at any time, and Ron and Hermione aren't allowed in Hogsmeade on non-official weekends." Sirius noted that Harry and his friends hadn't made one move toward the castle, though Hermione's eyes were darting quickly between Sirius and Peter.

"Really, Padfoot. We used to nip on down to the village all the time. Surely you remember."

Sirius knew Peter's use of the nickname was deliberate, and he started to turn to Harry to demand he return to the castle, when a bright flash of red light came out of the Quidditch stands, hitting him squarely in the chest. He felt himself fall backwards, stunned, through the veil of mist starting to rise off the pitch in the pre-evening coolness.

He hit the ground with a thunk, unable to move any part of his body except for his eyes. He heard Hermione scream, and saw Bellatrix emerge from the stands, hair as dark as his, but wild and matted. She was very clearly filthy, and Sirius' nose could detect the strong smell of decay all over her. The hand clasped around the wand she held was gnarled and twisted, and Sirius wondered how his once beautiful cousin had turned into _this_.

Sirius' eyes darted to Harry, who looked something between confused and betrayed, and who said, "That's . . . that's Bellatrix LeStrange." Sirius saw Ron step up next to Harry, carefully guiding Hermione a bit behind him, though she would have none of it, and stepped up next to Ron.

Peter laughed again. "Always such a bright boy, Harry. Now, just come along with Uncle Peter, and no one will get hurt."

"You're working with her!" Hermione exclaimed. "You're the one who let her into the castle!"

"Hermione Granger, you really are the brightest witch of your age." Peter smiled, and this time there was no mistaking the cruelty.

Harry, on the other hand, was starting to go for his wand, when Peter let out an "Expelliarmus!," causing the wand to go flying out of Harry's reach.

Harry started to respond with an "Accio," and found Peter's wand pointing under his chin for his trouble.

"If you're going to kill Harry, you'll have to kill us, too!" Ron shouted.

Peter's head snapped toward, Ron who, along with Hermione, was being held close by the threat of Bellatrix's wand.

"But Ron, we don't want to kill Harry. It's just that my master wants to see him for a bit, borrow something of his that he needs. There's no need to get excited."

"You're working for Voldemort," Harry said, and it wasn't a question. "He's your master."

"Got it in one, Harry," Peter said. He turned to look down at Sirius' prone body. "How long did it take you, Padfoot?" he asked, knowing that Sirius couldn't respond.

"How could you betray my parents?" Harry spat. "You're the one who told Voldemort where they were, where they were hiding with _me_!"

To Sirius' utter shock, Peter shrugged. "When working for the Dark Lord, everyone makes sacrifices. And convincing your parents to trust me wasn't very hard; they already did. Even convincing them and Sirius to stop trusting Remus wasn't very hard. I almost felt sorry for Remus, but it was all just so _easy_ that I couldn't help myself." Peter smirked. "They knew that someone was feeding information to Voldemort, spying on them; I was almost afraid they'd figure it out, but then I realized all I had to do was start whispering things about Remus. Remus helped, of course, just by being himself, poor bastard, but that part really wasn't my fault." He looked down at Sirius. "Was it now, Sirius?"

Sirius felt his face heat with anger, but he still couldn't move, not even to speak.

"I'm afraid, though, Harry, that we really must be going. We have a ritual to perform tonight, and you're the honored guest."

Bellatrix cackled, and Sirius felt a rush of cold fear go through him.

Then, Harry's eyes flashed, and Sirius saw Hermione shiver, and he knew that the cold wasn't just from fear. The grass around his body grew frosty, and he saw Peter's eyes shift away from Harry's face toward Bellatrix.

Bellatrix was facing the sky, where dozens upon dozens of Dementors could be seen, falling from the twilight like rain. She screamed, and Sirius' stomach clenched.

Peter, realizing that time was of the essence now, raised his wand over his head and grabbed hold of Harry's arm, about to Apparate them both and leave his accomplice behind to face her fate alone.

"Expelliarmus!" shouted a woman's voice, Lily's, and Peter's wand went flying into her outstretched hand.

Sirius turned his eyes to see Lily, James, and Remus all standing around the pitch, along with Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape.

James' face was hard, his eyes cold behind his glasses. "Really, Peter, don't you remember anything from school? You can't Apparate on Hogwarts grounds anyway."

Sirius saw Peter's face drop for just a second, before he pulled a small cup from his cloak pocket. "I came prepared for any contingency, Prongs," he said, before nearly forcing the thing into Harry's hands. Harry, however, struggled in Peter's grip before Hermione pulled her wand from her back pocket and said, "Accio cup."

Dumbledore, seeing the same danger Sirius did, that the Portkey would then work on Hermione, managed to incinerate the thing before it even reached her hands.

Harry, seizing the opportunity, began to run, but suddenly stopped, turning back toward the pitch, where the Dementors were landing. His face had gone sheet white, and his mouth was open as the Dementors started to feed on Bellatrix; one was also gliding steadily forward, looming upon Harry.

Remus' wand hand shot out, and he yelled, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" A bright white light began to shimmer out of the end of his wand, followed by a big, gangly four-legged creature, a dog, who began to herd the Dementor away from Harry, and indeed, started to round up the other dozens of Dementors after that, throwing them wide with its large head.

Bellatrix was already on the grass, unmoving, but Sirius watched in awe as Remus' silver Padfoot cast Dementor after Dementor aside, until the pitch was once again empty of their poisonous presence.

Then, the patronus began to waver, and grow faint, and Sirius looked at Remus, who had grown deathly pale, his eyes dilating. Then Sirius looked straight up, and caught sight of the full moon, and understood, horror descending upon him.

Lily also looked at the sky, then back to Remus, who was beginning to shake uncontrollably. Snape, who had collected Hermione and Ron also looked suddenly grim, and backed the students away from their DADA Professor.

Sirius had seen the Change many, many times before, but he would reflect later that he'd seen few so awful. Remus looked down at himself, and began to twitch, whimpering involuntarily as his feet grew longer, his arms grew fur. The snap of tendons and the screech of bone against bone were sharp in the early night, until Remus finally let out an involuntary, blood-curdling scream, and the Change was complete.

The werewolf looked around at the assembled humans, and then lifted its head and gave a mighty howl.

Lily ran to Harry, encircling him tightly, and Snape moved to stand in front of Ron and Hermione.

As soon as the wolf started to move forward, however, James quickly turned into Prongs, and the large stag maneuvered himself between the humans and the werewolf. The wolf, annoyed by this, lunged at the deer, but as always, Prongs was ready and blocked this attack with his antlers, piercing the wolf's coat and sending him flying. The stag trotted over to where the wolf had landed, and the two began to circle each other, the wolf trying to decide if he could take his opponent. Prongs, however, bent down and gently tried to prod the wolf with his muzzle, to get him to understand that he was a friend, that he used to be, and still was, _pack_. The wolf suddenly stopped, and sniffed the stag warily, before letting off another piercing howl, and racing off into the woods, the stag following after.

If he could have, Sirius would have let out a sigh of relief, until he saw the smug look on Peter's face. Peter got a good look at Harry and then waved a goodbye, transforming into a rat before everyone's eyes. He disappeared into the grass and Sirius thought he would be lost in the darkness when he saw McGonagall transform into her cat anamagus form.

The cat immediately put her nose to the ground, softly sniffing; then she delicately turned in one direction, laying herself nearly flat on the ground, clearly stalking her prey. She headed in one direction, then another, and she was nearly to the goal posts when Sirius saw her suddenly bound in the air and pounce. She came up victorious, a large rat struggling in her jaws.

The cat trotted up to Dumbledore, and sat at his feet, rat still held tight in her mouth. Dumbledore reached down and plucked the rat up by the tail, the cat willingly letting go. He reached down and stroked the cat's shining fur once, then twice, before McGonagall transformed back, a satisfied smile on her face.

"I see this was an exciting night for everyone involved," Dumbledore intoned. "Lily, if you would see to Sirius, my dear; Professor Snape, if you would release Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley into my care and check on the condition of Ms. LeStrange I would be most grateful," he said, before starting back up toward the castle, rat in hand.

Snape went over and examined Bellatrix's prone form before lifting her limp body into the air with a levitation spell.

Suddenly, Lily's face appeared over Sirius', and she was grinning. "Knocked out by a stunning spell in the first round, Professor Sirius Black? For shame." Harry, still beside her, laughed, and Sirius, though he knew he'd never hear the end of this for the rest of his natural life, thought that laugh was the most precious sound in the world.

***

Sirius was sitting cross-legged on the end of Remus Lupin's bed in the infirmary, watching Remus' eyes blink open as he struggled toward consciousness. He watched as Remus took a careful inventory of the room, confusion in his eyes as he tried to riddle out where he was, and why he was there. Eventually, those eyes shifted to take in the sight of Sirius, dressed in Muggle jeans and a white t-shirt, barefoot, and Sirius had to smile as Remus' eyes widened.

"I have a message for you from James," Sirius said. Remus closed his eyes like a man resigned to accepting his fate, and Sirius continued. "I'm quoting here: 'I am getting too old for this; either take your potion the next time or stop killing so many innocent rabbits who never did anything to you. Sorry for the puncture wounds, mate, but they were necessary at the time.'"

Remus' eyes opened again, and he gingerly moved his body, his hand touching the thick padding of bandages and gauze on his left side.

"He really was sorry over all of those rabbits. I'd never have thought Prongs would get so squeamish in his old age," Sirius added. Sirius, who had gone down to the woods and changed into Padfoot as soon as the stunning curse had lifted, and found the rest of his pack, knew that Padfoot was almost equally responsible for the rabbit carnage, but he kept that to himself for the time being.

Remus shook his head. "I can't believe I forgot to take the Wolfsbane," he said, his voice no more than a horse whisper.

"There were extenuating circumstances."

"Not that extenuating."

Sirius, knowing he would never be able to change Remus' mind on the subject, decided he'd rather pick his battles elsewhere.

Remus sighed. "I suppose I've been sacked."

"Are you mad?"

Remus looked up at Sirius like _he_ was the one who had lost his mind, and he said so. "Are _you_ mad? I didn't take the potion; I put the entire school, students and staff at risk, and I'm sure the Ministry has already been informed as to my conduct last night. Dumbledore would have no choice but to let me go."

"Far be it from me to speak for Dumbledore," Sirius began, "but so far, he's mentioned no such thing."

"I should resign, then. Parents will not want . . . someone like me teaching their children, and Dumbledore has already risked far too much on my account."

"I have no idea how the parents would find out about your lycanthropy, unless you know something that I don't," Sirius said. When Remus looked up at him, mute, Sirius continued. "Dumbledore did talk to the Ministry, yes, and your conduct last night was discussed in detail, but it was almost entirely about how you saved Harry, the rest of us, and probably the entire school from all being Kissed by Dementors. You, Professor Lupin, are actually about to receive a medal from the Order of Merlin."

Sirius laughed at Remus' baffled and incredulous expression. "There was a point when Snape thought he might insert a word or two, but let's just say I managed to persuade him otherwise."

Remus closed his eyes. "That persuasion didn't involve fists, did it?"

"I should say not!" Sirius denied, feigning offense. "I just reminded him that some other people I could name had made mistakes in their lifetimes, and that they wouldn't appreciate others reminding the Ministry, or the parents of the students here, of those facts."

Remus' eyes remained closed. "Blackmail, then."

"Ha, blackmail!" Sirius laughed, and Remus opened his eyes at that, the beginning of a smile quirking his lips.

Remus sighed again. "I still don't deserve to stay."

"That's your entire problem, Moony," Sirius said softly. "You don't think you deserve anything."

Sirius began to crawl gently up the bed, until he was stretched out next to Remus on his side, and Remus had rolled to face him so that they were practically nose to nose. Sirius leaned and kissed Remus softly on the lips. When they parted, Remus let out an entirely different sigh altogether.

"I'm sorry," Sirius said.

Remus' eyebrows came together. "What?"

"I'm sorry. I never said I was sorry for thinking you were the spy. So: I'm sorry."

There was a long pause, silence filling every corner of the infirmary, until Remus said softly, "Dumbledore had me visiting werewolf camps . . . living among, as he said, my own kind. He wanted to bring them over to our side; he thought I, having the, er, natural tendencies, would be the one to do it. When I went away, that's what I was doing. For most of that last year, he had me almost living with Fenrir Greyback and his pack, trying to convince him not to join Voldemort. It was a lost cause; Greyback was already a Death Eater, but I didn't know that until after James, Lily and Harry were attacked, when he bragged to me, thinking the strike had been successful. I stayed away because it seemed everyone was getting on just fine without me, and I still didn't know how to prove to you I wasn't the spy. There was little I could do, so I did nothing."

Sirius recoiled before he could stop himself. "Remus . . . that's. That's horrible."

"I know. Dumbledore wanted to keep the missions secret anyway, but even if he hadn't . . . I was too ashamed to tell anyone, even you."

"Ashamed?" Sirius cupped Remus' cheek with his palm, running his thumb along Remus' cheekbone. " _Moony_. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Dumbledore, on the other hand . . . ." Sirius' voice turned hard. "Sending you to live with Fenrir Greyback." Sirius spat the name. "That's like . . ."

"I know what's like," Remus said. "And I'd rather not dwell on it too long. Those were not happy times."

"No, they weren't," Sirius agreed softly.

Finally Remus ventured, "When you said before, in my classroom, that you wanted it all – " Remus trailed off and looked down.

"I meant I wanted all of it. The books in the pantry; the dirty socks on the floor; the snoring; the borrowing my razor without permission . . ."

"I don't snore," Remus protested, but he smiled.

"Like a hippogriff," Sirius said. "All of you, all of _us_ , even the fights and the misunderstandings and the occasional small pettiness. And I will not give up on you this time, not ever again."

"I gave up on you, too, you know."

"I know. But it's not like I didn't make that easier." Sirius sighed. "I can't believe that Peter's inner animal was a _rat_ and it took us _this long_ to figure things out."

Sirius was rewarded by a laugh from Remus. "I didn't ask . . . what happened to Peter, anyway?"

At that, Sirius looked more than a little smug. "McGonagall caught him; like a, well, a cat with a rat. He was turned over to the Aurors late last night; I'm sure it will be a trial and then Azkaban for him. They're probably grilling him about Voldemort as we speak." Sirius paused. "Azkaban's too good for him."

"Azkaban isn't too good for anyone," Remus replied. "And Bellatrix?"

"Kissed by the Dementors, even before you could stop them. It's what she deserved, I reckon."

On that point, Remus was silent.

Sirius answered the unspoken question. "Voldemort wanted Harry's blood for a spell that would bring him back to corporeal form."

Remus shivered. "You think he'll keep trying?"

"With his two closest minions gone, he'll be weakened, but no one's taking anything for granted."

The two men were silent, Sirius still gently stroking Remus' cheek.

"Will you be staying on at Hogwarts?" Remus asked, and Sirius knew it was no idle question.

"Well. I've already tendered my resignation as Astronomy professor," Sirius answered, and he watched Remus' face fall, which gave him his own kind of answer.

"However," he continued. "I always knew that was a temporary position, and Professor Sinistra is returning in the fall. Dumbledore did mention to me that he might be looking to add on an assistant Quidditch coach next fall . . . Madame Hooch is always saying she could use extra help."

"Is she now?" Remus asked, a light flickering on in his eyes.

"Uh-huh. Dumbledore said I might consider it."

"Really."

"Absolutely."

"Well, you might want to, be able to stay close to Harry and all."

"I don't think it was Harry Dumbledore had in mind, and I'll say that wasn't quite what I had in mind, either."

"What did you have in mind?"

"I thought I might try being close to the DADA Professor for a change, if he'll have me," Sirius said, rolling his hips closer to Remus' to emphasize his point.

Remus made a noise that got caught deep in his throat. "He will," Remus said.

Sirius kissed Remus again, and moved his hand from Remus' cheek to his hip. "I thought I came to Hogwarts this year for Harry," he whispered. "But I really came for you."

"To make sure I didn't harm Harry," Remus replied, but Sirius shook his head on the pillow.

"That's what I thought, too, but it's not true. I came for _you_ , to see you, to have you in my life again, no matter in what capacity. It was you, Remus; it's always been you."

Remus leaned in and kissed Sirius soundly, placing a hand on his belly. "I've never known you for grand confessions, Sirius," he said.

"Are you joking? I'm the _king_ of grand confessions," Sirius laughed.

Remus stifled him with a kiss that was, in its way, his own grand confession.

***

On his fourteenth birthday, Harry Potter received a Firebolt from his Quidditch coach and DADA Professor, the card signed, "From Sirius and Remus," and Remus Lupin ate so much birthday cake at the party that he didn't eat another meal for the next day and a half.


End file.
